Professor James O'Connell, who has died aged 87 after a short illness, saw the department of peace studies at Bradford University through a period of intense attacks from Margaret Thatcher's government in the early 1980s.

Such was the extent of the political dislike for "appeasement studies" during the cold war that it was the only department in any British university to be investigated by the University Grants Committee (UGC), after considerable pressure from the then education secretary, Sir Keith Joseph. But the resulting assessment was positive, and during his 15 years as head (1978-93), James saw the department treble in size while establishing a worldwide reputation.

He was born in Cork, where his mother, Agnes (nee Harrington), kept a public house. His father, also James, was away at sea for much of the time, but returned to run the pub when Agnes died in 1935.

In November 1942, during the second world war, he was one of 33 crew who were lost when the merchant ship Irish Pine disappeared without trace. Many years later it was determined that the vessel had been torpedoed by U-608, even though Ireland was a neutral state.

James was taught in Gaelic until the age of 16, took his BA and MA degrees at University College Galway and then joined the Society of African Missions, studying at Dromantine College near Newry before being ordained as a Catholic priest in 1952.

James O'Connell joined the Society of African Missions after doing his master's at University College Galway

After further study in Belgium, in 1957 he was awarded a doctorate on the work of the American philosopher and mathematician Charles S Pierce and spent the next 18 years in Nigeria. James left the priesthood in 1973 but stayed on in Nigeria as professor of government at Ahmadu Bello University.

By playing a significant role in redrawing the Nigerian constitution in the aftermath of the Biafran war of the late 1960s, James fell foul of some leading political figures and in 1975 was deported at 24 hours' notice.

Earlier that year he had married Rosemary Khawaja, nee Harris, from a Belfast Protestant family, and on returning to Britain they settled in Belfast, where James was dean of arts at the Northern Ireland Polytechnic.

In 1978 he was appointed to the chair of peace studies at Bradford, taking over a small department that had been founded as a Quaker initiative and headed initially by Adam Curle. Adam was a remarkable figure with a guru-like quality, but his aim of running a centre with minimal academic assessment and unusual freedom had not proved easy in a conventional university environment.

Though he had taken early retirement through ill health, Adam happily maintained connections with the department for many years, and to James fell the task of combining critical and independent interdisciplinary study and research with the demands of a university environment.

James saw the true activism of university work as scholarship, but he argued strongly that scholars should also provide support for campaigners, politicians and policymakers. It was partly Bradford's independent and knowledgeable research on the nuclear arms race that incurred the wrath of the Thatcher government, and matters came to a head in 1985 when the UGC's head, Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, sought the agreement of the Bradford vice-chancellor, Professor John West, to inspect the department.

West was willing to do so only if O'Connell and his staff agreed, which they did. Swinnerton-Dyer and a colleague visited to conduct what was in effect an academic audit – virtually unknown then if common enough now. They reported favourably to the university council, to the reported anger of Thatcher and Joseph.

Peace studies at Bradford is an enduring legacy of a remarkable person and, after he retired, James remained an active scholar and lecturer as well as being a strong supporter of peace groups. As well as developing a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, the department had, by 1993, laid the foundations for extensive work in mediation and conflict resolution, arms-control research and the risk of international conflicts stemming from deepening socio-economic divisions and environmental constraints.

James's own scholarly work over the past 20 years was principally on contemporary philosophy and theological issues, and he served as president of the Partnership for Theological Education, Manchester, now Luther King House Theological College.

James was highly critical of the structures of the Roman Catholic church but retained his faith to the end. He is survived by Rosemary, his daughters Sanjida, Sheila and Dee, his son Patrick and three granddaughters.

• James O'Connell, peace studies scholar, born 22 October 1925; died 8 September 2013